Microsoft 365 vs. Office 365: What’s the Difference?

UPDATE: Microsoft has officially announced that Office 365 will be renamed as Microsoft 365 on April 21, 2020. Read on for the original article.

Microsoft 365 was originally unveiled last year at Inspire 2017. An all-encompassing package that includes Office 365, Windows 10 and Enterprise Mobility + Security, the new offering debuted with two configurations positioned at different segments of the market: Microsoft 365 Business and Microsoft 365 Enterprise.

Microsoft 365 Business is designed specifically for small-to-medium sized businesses with up to 300 users. This offering only offers basic security features, but still acts as a great turnkey solution for smaller businesses who want a more integrated and secure way of using Windows 10 and Office 365.

Office 365: A cloud services platform that offers familiar Microsoft products like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneDrive (along with other productivity services) either online or on-premises via a subscription plan.

Microsoft 365: An all-in-one bundle that includes the Office 365 suite, Windows 10 Pro and Enterprise Mobility+Security for a complete, interconnected experience.

Microsoft 365 Enterprise is, as the title implies, more geared towards larger organizations that want a single, secure platform with which to share and collaborate. It includes strong data security features on top of Windows 10 Pro and Office 365.

Microsoft 365 Education was announced a bit later and is geared towards schools and other institutions of learning. The goal is to empower educators with access to productivity and collaborative software that students can benefit from.

Want to learn how to accelerate tech intensity in Office 365 and your modern workplace?

Why Not Just Subscribe to Office 365?

Similarly to how last year’s Xbox One X was Microsoft’s response to customers who wanted to upgrade to a more powerful gaming experience, MS365 is their response to customers who desire a complete package when it comes to workplace productivity.

Small-to-medium-sized businesses looking to adopt Office 365 would typically need to buy Windows 10 Pro and subscribe to a security service piecemeal. The organization would then also need to make sure all of their users were properly connected and covered under the security subscription.

With MS365, everything is integrated from the start. Not only does this make it less of a hassle from a buying perspective, but it also makes it easier to navigate for end users. By buying into the entire Microsoft ecosystem from the get-to, businesses have a chance to save valuable resources and use them for running their operation.

What Does Each Offer Specifically?

The Microsoft 365 Business offering is fairly straightforward, but Enterprise and Education are comprised of multiple tiers tailored to different use cases. Here’s everything you need to know:

Microsoft 365 Business

Microsoft 365 Business is designed for SMBs with 300 users or less. It’s comprised of:

Microsoft 365 In a Nutshell

MS365 has a lot to offer businesses that haven’t made the move to Office 365 and want to set up their environment as fast as possible. Microsoft 365 Business should be especially popular among new SMBs that want to get a collaborative environment off the ground quickly.

Learn more about how to utilize the productivity components of the MS365 and O365 suite below: